Two new lawmakers arrived at the Legislature this summer to fill vacancies in the Arizona Senate, potentially altering the dynamics of a chamber that left the Capitol bitterly divided on the issue of Medicaid expansion.

A group of moderate, GOP precinct committeemen in Legislative District 25 has filed suit over a disputed organizational election in November and allege that a faction of Russell Pearce supporters is trying to bully its way back into power.

An effort to give rural areas more control over filling vacancies in the Arizona Legislature was stymied by a House panel after lawmakers raised concerns that it would create more problems than it would solve.